In which I play in the fields of poetry | Anita Mathias: Dreaming Beneath the Spires

In which Imaginative Literature Stirs the Heart to Conversion (A Guest Post by Holly Ordway)

Anita Mathias — Mon, 13 Oct 2014 22:08:08 +0000

I am honoured to welcome Dr. Holly Ordway to my blog today. In which Imaginative Literature Stirs the Heart to Conversion How could a fierce atheist enter into Christian faith? There are many ways for God’s grace to work; my own story is one that highlights the importance of imaginative literature! When I was firmly […]

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Stinging Nettle to Butterfly Wings

Anita Mathias — Tue, 10 Jun 2014 09:08:13 +0000

And how, and how Could that prickly caterpillar –All bristles and danger– Feeding on the stinging nettle in my garden Become a peacock butterfly, Four shimmering iridescent eyes? My God, my God, redeemer, Even today, take my life, The years lost to self-pity, anger and sadness, False starts, wrong directions, promising trails abandoned […]

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Seed the Clouds, Oh Lord. Make it Rain

Anita Mathias — Wed, 04 Jun 2014 10:32:15 +0000

Clouds are seeded with silver iodide And dry ice to make it rain. I have no silver iodide, Lord, To move the clouds over my life. I cannot change my heart And make it more loving. I cannot baptise my imagination into creativity. I cannot force story ideas. I cannot write […]

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God of the Clanging Cymbal

Anita Mathias — Wed, 21 May 2014 11:34:40 +0000

You are the God of the noisy gongs, and you are the God of the clanging cymbals, of those who speak in the tongues of angels and are impatient, who prophesy and are unkind, who understand mysteries and resent the success of the unworthy, whose faith moves mountains, and are rude and […]

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When Waves of Mercy Crash Over My “If Onlys”

Anita Mathias — Sat, 17 May 2014 10:26:11 +0000

Motherhood. The land of If Onlys. * * * If only I’d been calmer when I was pregnant with her. If only she’d had a higher birth weight. If only I had breast-fed longer, If only I had used better childcare, Or no child-care. If only I could have home-schooled, Or read to the girls […]

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When the Lack of Joy Constitutes an Emergency: Martin Luther on Prayer

Anita Mathias — Sat, 19 Apr 2014 19:57:12 +0000

Martin Luther’s barber, Peter, asked him how to pray. Luther “ without doubt, at the time, one of the busiest and most hard-pressed men in the Electorate of Saxony, if not in the whole of Europe,” goes home immediately, and replies to this humble, unimportant parishioner. Such, such are men and women whom God blesses! […]

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He Makes the Failures of Friday Beautiful in His Time

Anita Mathias — Thu, 03 Apr 2014 20:23:50 +0000

Ravaged by grief, she saw you standing right there, but did not recognize you. She was living in Friday, That traumatic Friday. But it’s Sunday now, And there you stand, In front of Mary. It’s a new day, The only day that really counts. Today. * * * Lord Jesus, I give […]

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Grieve No More For All That’s Broken

Anita Mathias — Mon, 31 Mar 2014 20:10:24 +0000

Wheat must be crushed to become bread And bread broken to be eaten. The chrysalis crumble for the butterfly, The egg splinter for the chicken. And sheets of coloured glass Must be shattered To become stained glass Through which the love of God– In rainbowed light– Shines. * * * And I consider… […]

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“More Beautiful than the Honey Locust Tree Are the Words of the Lord” by Mary Oliver

Anita Mathias — Wed, 02 Oct 2013 10:13:53 +0000

1 In the household of God, I have stumbled in recitation, and in my mind I have wandered. I have interrupted worship with discussion. Once I extinguished the Gospel candle after all the others. But never held the cup to my mouth lagging in gratitude. 2. The Lord forgives many things, so I have heard.. […]

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Thanks by W.S. Merwin (A gorgeous poem for Thanksgiving)

Anita Mathias — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 22:22:25 +0000

Listen with the night falling we are saying thank you we are stopping on the bridges to bow from the railings we are running out of the glass rooms with our mouths full of food to look at the sky and say thank you we are standing by the water thanking it smiling by the […]

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